Lesley Syne recently launched her new book, Know Their Names. It concerns itself with the erasure of Aboriginal people from Australian history through examining the Queensland government’s Rewan Police Horse Breeding Station in the Central Highlands. She believes that without truth-telling and an appreciation of the strength and contributions of First peoples, there can be no accurate and shared ground to Australian history.

This Sunday on the eve of National Reconciliation week we celebrate Mabo Day. It is marked annually on 3 June. It commemorates Mer Island man Eddie Koiki Mabo and his successful efforts to overturn the legal fiction of terra nullius, or land belonging to no-one.

As a community we are once again at a crossroads where we are invited to choose a path. We are invited to trust in that ever constant loving presence that has walked with us guiding us along the way. Homily by Terry Fitzpatrick.

In a world filled with oppositional thinking we need to rediscover the peace of non-dual thinking. This weekend we will hear a homily from Fr Richard Rohr where he offers a concise history of how Western Christianity once had, soon lost, tried to retrieve, and now is roundly rediscovering its own traditional understanding of unitive consciousness (which was our word for non-dual thinking).

On this Mother's Day we are increasingly aware of the drums of war in the world beating louder everyday. In this milieu we do well to re-listen to the founder of Mother’s Day, Julia Ward Howe, where she invites in 1870, the women of the world to unite for peace in the world.

This week Marg Ortiz leads us in meditation using a mantra. We are encouraged to use mantras as a way to focus the mind and deepen connection with the divine, emphasizing the importance of being present and letting go of habitual thoughts and emotions.

The divine presence that Jesus spoke of is available to us all the time. This is the good news of Easter. This weekend we will be listening to a homily by Franciscan priest Richard Rohr where he explores the concept of the resurrection as not a One-Time Miracle.

The message of Easter is something we desperately need in today’s increasingly chaotic world. It is the message of being embraced by a loving presence that will never leave. It is the promise of Jesus in his final words to his disciples in Matthew’s gospel: ‘And know that I AM with you always.

The message of Easter is something we desperately need in today’s increasingly chaotic world. It is the message of being embraced by a loving presence that will never leave. It is the promise of Jesus in his final words to his disciples in Matthew’s gospel: ‘And know that I AM with you always.’